🎨 Florence
"Renaissance art, the best bistecca, and a real city under the museum."
Florence is genuinely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's also genuinely overrun with tourists. The trick is to treat it as a base for Tuscany and to find the neighborhoods that still feel like a real Italian city.
Where to stay
Oltrarno, San Niccolò, Sant'Ambrogio
Directly on the Arno in the center
What to eat
Bistecca alla fiorentina
T-bone steak, 600g minimum, cooked rare (al sangue). This is non-negotiable. Don't ask for well done.
Lampredotto
Tripe sandwich. Street food from market kiosks. Try it. It's excellent.
Mercato Centrale
Upstairs food hall is tourist-friendly but good. Downstairs market is for locals.
Ribollita
Tuscan bread and vegetable soup. Winter dish. Thick enough to stand a spoon in.
What to actually do
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Book the Uffizi 2 weeks+ in advance. Mandatory.
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Walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset — the view is overused in Instagram but there's a reason.
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Day trip to Siena by bus (€7 each way, 1.5 hours, more authentic than Florence in many ways).
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Explore Oltrarno on foot — the artisan workshops, the local bars, the real Florence.
What to skip
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The Ponte Vecchio (walk across it once, don't shop there).
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Any restaurant that uses laminated menus near the Duomo.